Food Safety Management System

Food Safety Management System for Catering Businesses

With effect from 1 June 2014, all caterers are required to submit a proper Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based FSMS taking reference from the Singapore Standard SS583:2022. To improve food safety standards in the food industry, SFA had with effect from 1 April 2019, extended the FSMS requirement to all licences with permission to provide catering as an ancillary service.

The Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is a preventative approach towards identifying, preventing, and reducing food-borne hazards, to ensure food is safe for consumption. The Food Safety Management System (FSMS) identifies and controls food safety hazards at every stage of the handling of food for sale (from receiving of ingredients to serving of customers in retail outlets), through a holistic system of controls consisting of:

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) principles: a scientific and systematic approach towards identifying, preventing, and reducing food-borne hazards in the food process chain.
Pre-requisite programmes: basic programmes and practices that establish and maintain a hygienic environment for processing and handling of food.
(Examples of such programmes include a cleaning and sanitation program, maintenance and calibration program, food safety inspections, pest control programme, cross-contamination prevention procedures and recall and traceability programme.)
Efficient and accurate maintenance of documentation and records to ensure FSMS is monitored easily, and to allow traceability of hazards to the contamination source.

A well-designed FSMS with appropriate control measures can help food establishments comply with food hygiene regulations, so that food prepared for sale is hygienic and safe for consumption. Templates of records used in FSMS' can be found here.

Accredited FSMS and Non-Accredited FSMS

An accredited FSMS certification* refers to an organisation’s FSMS that is certified by a certification body, which is:

Accredited by Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) for SS 444, SS 590, and ISO 22000; or
Accredited by accreditation bodies who are signatories of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) multilateral recognition arrangement (MLA) for ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000; or
Accredited by BRCGS-recognised accreditation bodies who are signatories of the IAF MLA

*Accredited FSMS certificate issued by an accredited certification body will carry the logo of the accreditation body

Conversely, a non-accredited FSMS certification refers to an organisation’s FSMS that is either:

Non-certified (i.e. FSMS based on in-house standards or FSMS based on non-certifiable standards such as SS583:2022) or
Issued by certification bodies which are not accredited by accreditation bodies.

A non-accredited FSMS plan needs to be developed or endorsed by personnel who have passed WSQ Food Safety Course Level 4 or previously, the WSQ Apply Food Safety Management System for Food Service Establishments Course.

FSMS requirements for catering licences

SFA requires all caterers and licensees with permission to provide catering as an ancillary service to implement an FSMS before obtaining or renewing their licence. Existing licensees and new applicants are to comply with the following FSMS requirements:

	FSMS requirements for catering licences
New Applicants	New applicants who have implemented an accredited FSMS or a non-accredited FSMS are required to submit their FSMS plan and relevant documents listed below to SFA before issuance of their licence.
Existing licensees	Existing licensees who have implemented an accredited FSMS are required to submit their FSMS plan and relevant documents listed below to SFA upon obtaining the accredited FSMS certification or whenever there are updates made to the workflow. Existing licensees with a non-accredited FSMS are required to submit their FSMS plan and relevant documents listed below to SFA whenever there are updates made to the workflow or to the FSMS plan.
	Catering licences with Accredited FSMS	Catering licences with Non-Accredited FSMS
Training requirements	Not applicable.	All caterers and licensees with permission to provide catering as an ancillary service who have implemented a non-accredited FSMS are required to appoint at least one staff of supervisory role per licensed premises (e.g. Food Hygiene Officer, head chef or operations manager), preferably in-charge of day-to-day operations, to undergo and pass WSQ Food Safety Course Level 4. If your staff have previously passed the WSQ Apply Food Safety Management System for Food Service Establishments Course, the qualification continued to be recognised by SFA. WSQ Food Safety Course Level 4 is a new course with additional topics (such as internal audit) and is useful for individuals to level up their knowledge so as to better carry out their job scope for establishing and overseeing food safety standards in their food establishments. Licensees are required to submit a copy of the Statement of Attainment (SOA) to SFA.
Documents to be submitted	1. Accredited FSMS Plan a. Company information/ FSMS team/ Product description b. Flow diagram (with Critical Control Points (CCPs) identified) c. HACCP charts for CCPs which inculdes: Identification of hazards at CCPs Control measures and critical limits Monitoring procedures and documentation Corrective action to be taken 2. Valid accredited FSMS certificate	1. Non-accredited FSMS plan FSMS plan must be developed or endorsed by personnel whom have passed WSQ Food Safety Course Level 4 or previously, the WSQ Apply Food Safety Management System for Food Service Establishments Course. a. Company information/ FSMS team/ Product description b. Flow diagram (with Critical Control Points (CCPs) identified) c. HACCP charts for CCPs which inculdes: Identification of hazards at CCPs Control measures and critical limits Monitoring procedures and documentation Corrective action to be taken 2. Statement of Attainment (SOA) certificate for WSQ Food Safety Course Level 4. The SOA for the former WSQ Apply Food Safety Management System for Food Service Establishments is also recognised.
Submission method	Applicants and licensees are strongly advised to submit the required documents early to SFA via the Online Feedback Form(choose "Licences & Permits").